


jake is a certified pansexual mess

by ren_sauce



Series: what in fire nation [3]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Dancing, Enemies to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Rich Goranski's Hips, avatar AU, avatar rich, earthbender michael, firebender chloe, jake dillinger being a tsundere, metalbender jenna, nonbender jake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 17:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ren_sauce/pseuds/ren_sauce
Summary: In hindsight, randomly kissing his enemy-ally-friend-ish person probably wasn't Jake's greatest plan of all time.





	jake is a certified pansexual mess

**Author's Note:**

> i... i really don't know.

If this journey had taught Jake anything, it was that the Avatar was a lot of things.

For one, he was a total idiot. Now, Jake usually wasn’t one to talk – maths and science weren’t really his strong suit, and yes, maybe he had to double check his spelling every now and again, so he didn’t usually judge people who weren’t as book smart as, say, Jenna. But the Avatar wasn’t just lacking when it came to book smarts, he was lacking when it came to _everything_ smarts.

“I’m gonna go set up the fire!”

“Uh, _no_.” Jake sighed, grabbing the kindling from Rich’s arms (he tried to ignore the small ache in his stomach when he saw Rich’s face fall slightly). “You are not going to do that.”

“But – why not?” Rich frowned, cocking his head. Jake felt his face flush. With anger. Obviously.

 _“Because_ , Rich.” He growled, throwing the kindling into the bushes. “This trail is often used by merchants visiting the Earth Kingdom, and most of those merchants are from the Fire Nation, so if you don’t want to get us caught, maybe make yourself useful and don’t light a gods damned fire.”

“Stop being a bitch, Dillinger.” Chloe glared, grabbing Rich’s arm protectively. “Come on, Rich. Let’s set up the tents.”

“Uh – okay…” Rich frowned, still looking at Jake with confusion as Chloe dragged him away. “Sorry, Jake.”

Second, he was probably the most stubborn person Jake had ever met in his life. Seriously. There had been _so_ many nights where Rich had kept them all up because he was so determined to get his earth bending right.

“Rich, seriously.” Michael said gently. “It’s not a big deal, we can try again in the morning-“

“Nope, that’s fine!” Rich smiled through gritted teeth as he thrust his hands out towards the rock again. “I can get it.”

“Rich, you don’t have to-“

“I _can_ and I _will!”_ Rich snapped, grunting as he tried to lift the rock into the air. Michael sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well,” He murmured, stifling a yawn. “I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up all night, okay?”

“I’ll watch him.” Jake huffed dramatically. Rich finally looked up from his rock.

“Oh, no, Jake, you don’t have to-“

“It’s fine.” Jake sighed. “You’d only keep me up anyways, so.”

Jenna and Chloe both arched their eyebrows simultaneously. Jake tried not to shudder. Those two really were a powerful force…

“You don’t have to do that.” Chloe said. “I know how to deal with Rich, I can watch him.”

“And let you two fire benders conspire against us?” Jake scoffed. “No thanks.”

“Fine.” Jenna shrugged offhandedly. “I’ll watch him. I’m not that tired anyways.”

“No, that’s fine.” Jake growled in frustration. “You go rest, I can watch him by myself.”

“Why are you being so stubborn about this?”

Jake rolled his eyes and refused to answer. Mostly out of pride, but partly because he wasn’t entirely sure himself.

“That’s fine!” Rich grinned. “C’mon, Jakey, bear witness to my awesome power!”

He planted his legs in a sturdy earth bending stance, and thrust his arms towards the sky.

The rock rolled to the left slightly.

“Impressive.”

“Fuck off.” Chloe huffed, kicking dirt at him as she went to her tent. “Only I can be mean to Rich. Find someone else to pick on.”

Jake turned to yell something at her, but the words died on his tongue. He – he wasn’t _picking_ on Rich. Was he? No, no, of course not. He just – Rich was the Avatar, he was supposed to be better than this! Jake was just expecting more of him. Not picking on him. Totally different. Besides, Rich never seemed to care, right?

He tried to tone down his frustration a little after that.

Thirdly, Rich was… Kind of maybe sort of totally hot.

It wasn’t a big deal, really. Jake had found plenty of people attractive before, regardless of gender, so Rich wasn’t some big revelation or anything. And Jake had also found plenty of people attractive without being romantically attracted to them. So it – it _really_ didn’t matter that he found Rich objectively somewhat arguably very slightly utterly madly alluring as fuck.

It wasn’t even some big reveal, either! They’d just been sitting around the campfire, eating their fish, when Rich had suddenly grabbed Chloe’s wrists and dragged her to dance with him.

Now, they’d had a few dances in Carmarthen. Jake wasn’t unfamiliar with it. At Carmarthen, they’d just jump and spin to the music, and couples would gently sway together during the slower songs. That was dancing. At least, that was the dancing _Jake_ knew.

But it seemed that things were different in the Fire Nation.

Rich’s movements were precise, graceful. He arched his arms over his head, head tilting to the side and his eyes fluttering shut gently, a small smile on his lips. He stretched out one of his short legs, rolling his weight the side and skimming his left leg across the forest floor in an effortless curve. Chloe mimicked his movements across the campfire with ease, but Jake only had eyes for Rich.

He let his right arm stretch to the side, the muscles flexing slightly at the movement. Jake couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to touch them. Rich spun on his left leg, hips rolling with the movement, and landed on his right, his arms falling slowly to his sides, flickers of fire curling around them enchantingly. The burns on his arms rippled.

Rich’s eyes opened slowly, like he was waking up from a long rest, and met Jake’s across the flames. Jake couldn’t look away. He was captivated.

Then Rich winked, honest to gods _winked_ , grabbed Chloe’s wrist and pulled her into a faster dance, his hands settling her waist and hers on his shoulders, which looked kind of weird because of the height difference. Their feet skipped across the leaves and dirt quickly, both of them laughing as Rich spun her around in a clumsy attempt to dip her.

Jake quickly looked away, clearing his throat and shifting in his seat awkwardly.

“That was pretty gay, Jake.” Jenna smirked beside him.

“Shut up.” He said quickly, voice cracking. His eyes drifted back across the campfire as Rich twirled Chloe away from him, both of them mirroring each other’s movements as they swayed their hips and twirled their arms. Jake gulped. Chloe could only _try_ to mimic the movements of Rich’s hips. He circled them smoothly, kicking his leg out in a fast twirl. A plume of fire sprouted from his foot, curving behind him.

He looked like he was made out of fire.

“Gettin’ gayer.” Michael snickered.

“Shut up!” Jake hissed, trying to keep his gaze fixed on the floor.

“C’mon!” Rich grinned, he and Chloe making their way over to the three of them. Rich grabbed Michael’s wrists, Chloe grabbing Jenna’s, and they tugged them into their little dance circle. Michael laughed uproariously, spinning and bopping in weird, curvy movements. Jenna grinned, stepping simply to the imaginary beat.

“Jake!” Rich called as he spun his arms around him, creating small trails of fire in their wake. “You wanna join?”

Jake squeaked. There was no way he could stand right now, let alone dance. Quick, think, think!

“Non-specific excuse!” He yelled, scrambing off the log he was sitting on and diving into his tent.

Well, he thought as he covered himself with a blanket and curled into the foetal position. That probably could’ve gone better.

It wasn’t a big deal, he tried to tell himself as he curled up in his bedroll. So Rich was… arguably somewhat attractive and could do things with his hips that made Jake’s throat go dry and legs press together. It didn’t mean anything.

It _didn’t_ mean anything.

oOo

“Well.” Jenna sighed, rolling up the map. “Welcome to Guthram.”

Jake gulped at the jagged walls of mud, rock and branches, looming almost twice the height of the Carmarthen walls, and ten times as intimidating. Sharp rocks and pointed sticks stuck out at odd, random angles, just waiting to pierce something. Cracked earth rose and fell in lumps and chunks, like a bison had decided to chew on it for a quick snack.

“It’s, uh…”

“Big.” Rich finished, fiddling with his sleeves. Against the height of the walls, he looked even smaller than usual.

“It’s just a small trading town.” Chloe huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “How bad can it be?”

Answer?

Really really really really really really bad times infinity plus one.

Jake would’ve expected a coastal town to be sunny and warm, but Guthram was the total opposite. It was cold, windy, and the sky was a dull shade of grey, like, _all_ the time. Not to mention the town’s only career choices were either fishing, trading, or, assuming from the number of people milling around the taverns, drinking.

“Do you smell that?” Jenna gagged, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Michael nodded solemnly. “Smells like man stink and decomposing whale.”

Rich frowned, taking a quick sniff and promptly choking.

“Yep, that’s it.” He coughed. “That’s the smell.”

A fishmonger glared at them icily as he chopped the head off a fish. An old woman with gnarled fingers and a hunched back looked at them and hissed. Jake’s hand instinctively went to his knife, but Rich grabbed his wrist quickly.

“Careful.” He whispered, flicking his eyes to the side. Jake followed his eyes to three tall, muscular men standing outside one of the taverns, clad in iron and dyed red leather.

Fire Nation.

Jake nodded slowly, but kept his hand near the sheath strapped to his side, just in case. Rich flashed him a grin, drawing his hand away, and Jake tried to ignore the warm tingle it left behind.

“Okay.” Chloe said quietly, so only they could hear. “The trading ships will be leaving for the Southern Water Tribe at dawn tomorrow, so we should probably find a place to sleep.”

“Where?” Jake frowned, narrowing his eyes at the rotting buildings. “Everywhere here looks like a place a murderer would be hiding.”

“I-It’s not _so_ bad…” Michael mumbled, trying to stay positive. “I mean, look at that place over there, with the plants on the window sill! Isn’t that sweet?”

“That’s mould, Mike.”

“… Oh.”

“I’m sure we can find a reasonable place to stay.” Chloe said calmly. “We just… Need to keep looking. That’s all.”

“Excuse me!”

The whole group jumped. Jake drew his knife, Michael, Chloe and Rich snapped into bending stances. Jenna just huffed and gave a tired glare, which was somehow more intimidating than all of them combined.

“Whoa, whoa!” A relatively short man with matted black hair laughed. “Stand down, I come in peace!”

Jake narrowed his eyes and sheathed his blade, eyes flicking across the street just to make sure the Fire Nation guards hadn’t noticed their panic. If they had, they didn’t show it.

“My name is Dustin Kropp, and I couldn’t help but overhear your discussion!”

“So you were eavesdropping?” Chloe said sharply, eyes slanted in an icy glare.

“Uh – no!” Dustin laughed nervously. “No, not exactly, I just – I was wondering if you’d perhaps like to spend the night at my family’s inn! There’s a bar and an excellent view of the sea…”

The sea in Guthram was black, choppy, and honestly looked like a place a sea monster would be hiding.

“I can even make the stay half priced! Just for you!”

Michael frowned, moving slightly so the others were behind him and Jake.

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch!” Dustin forced a smile. “But, uh, if you’d like – we are having a dance this evening, and I would really appreciate it if you came!”

Jenna frowned, glancing at the solemn townspeople.

“A dance?” She said sceptically. “Here?”

“I-I know the folks here may _seem_ a little… Intimidating, but we’re just, uh, a little _stressed_ , at the moment.” His gaze flicked to the Fire Nation guards. “I’m sure you can understand why.”

“So that’s it?” Jake asked, raising an eyebrow. “You want us to come to your little dance party so people’ll forget about the Fire Nation guards? Why’re they even here, anyways?”

“Like I said, the Fire Lords latest order. Apparently, they’re on the hunt for the Avatar.”

Chloe clenched her fists. Rich ran his fingers along the burns on his forearm.

“Look, just – _please_ come to the dance?” Dustin asked desperately. “The people here – they’re a lot more fun when they let loose. But they haven’t had a chance to let loose in months, they’re too cautious about the guards-!” He raked a hand through his hair. In that one motion, he looked so much more… _tired_ than he’d seemed at first. “Please? If people show up, surely more will come, right? And then we’ll all be able to have fun for a night!”

“That’s not exactly guaranteed…” Chloe muttered. Rich elbowed her gently.

“Of course we’ll come!” He smiled widely. Dustin’s eyes shone.

“Really?!” He grinned. “That’s perfect! I-It’s tonight, at sunset, spread the word!”

“Of course!” Rich said loudly. “We will _totally_ come to your inn’s event tonight at – uh…” He lowered his voice. “What time?”

“Sunset.” Dustin smiled. “At the Seahorse Inn.”

“Sunset!” Rich yelled. A few of the townspeople began to raise their heads. “Totally awesome dance party at sunset, at the Seahorse Inn, sounds cool!”

“Uh – yeah!” Michael joined in with the yelling. People were actually listening now. “I will, uh… Also be going to the Seahorse tonight! That would be fun!”

Chloe slapped her palm to her forehead. “This is a nightmare…”

“I think it’s working.” Jenna said with mild surprise. Jake frowned, glancing around the town and – oh shit, it _was_.

“Hey, Dustin!” One of the fishmongers yelled. “What’s this about a party?”

“Uh – one second, Ran!” Dustin said, turning back to the group. “Thank you!” He whispered, before running off to the fishmonger and his customers.

“What was that for?” Chloe snapped, rounding on Rich. “We can’t have any distractions! Who knows what could happen with all those people around? It’s not your job to promote businesses, Rich!”

“I thought the Avatar’s job was to spread peace and happiness, and to keep the world balanced?” Rich smiled cockily. “Seems like I’m doing my job just fine, Chlo.”

“Damn.” Michael whistled as Rich strode ahead of them. “You just got smacked _down_ , Chloe!”

Chloe rounded on him, staring him dead in the eye.

“I’m not afraid to stab you.” She growled, before storming off the catch up with Rich.

“Okay…” Michael whispered squeakily. “I’m just gonna – _not_ walk in front of her from now on…”

oOo

“Wow.” Jenna frowned. “This party… Sucks.”

“It’s not that bad!” Michael smiled forcefully, looking out at the deafeningly silent inn. “It’s just… Quiet. There’s nothing wrong with a quiet party!”

“There is something wrong with a chaperoned party, though…” Chloe growled, wrinkling her nose at the Fire Nation guards standing at the door.

“True.” Rich winced. “Reminds me of those balls we had to go to in the Capital City, _ugh_.”

“Ugh.” Chloe nodded in agreement. Jake cocked his head.

“You two went to balls?”

“Yep.” Rich sighed, popping the ‘p’. “They lowkey sucked ass.”

Jake frowned at him, scanning him carefully. He took in Rich’s messed up, red streaked hair, too-big clothes and slouchy posture as he chewed on his fried potato wedges lazily. There was no way he could picture Rich at a ball.

“We need to liven this party up!” Rich declared, slapping his fist on their table. “I refuse to let these poor people be subjected to uncomfortable silences, boring music and creepy guards staring at you all night! I refuse!”

“That’s specific.”

 _“Refuse!”_ Rich yelled, storming to the main bar floor.

“Aaaand there he goes.” Jenna sighed. “Chloe, you gonna take this?”

“Actually, no.” Chloe shrugged. “Like Rich said, this sort of is his job. Besides, Rich can be very… Persuasive, when he wants to be.”

Jake frowned, watching as Rich jogged over to the ‘band’, which consisted solely of one man sitting at the rotting piano and one woman with a violin. Some loud laughs and a few fingerguns later, Rich was running to their table, piano and violin launching into a quick and bouncy rhythm.

“Come on, Chlo!” He laughed, grabbing Chloe’s hands and pulling her to the centre floor, their feet jumping and skipping to the rhythm, arms flexing and arching with their movements. Jake almost choked as Rich circled his hips mesmerizingly.

“Pretty gay, Jake.”

“Shut up, Michael!”

“Come on.” Jenna sighed, grabbing their wrists and tugging them along to where Rich and Chloe were dancing. “Might as well get this party started.”

Michael and Rich leaped and bounced to the rhythm, while Chloe and Jenna went for a more simple dance. Jake just kind of stood there, eyeing the Fire Nation guards cautiously.

“C’mon, Jake!” Rich laughed, grabbing him by the elbows and spinning him around. “Cut loose for a bit!”

Jake hadn’t ‘cut loose’ since they started this whole journey. And honestly? Being the uptight, serious one in the group (besides Chloe) kind of sucked balls.

“What the hell.” He chuckled. “Outta my way, chumps!”

He slid and skipped to the beat, legs kicking out and arms moving in quick, jerky motions. Michael threw his head back and laughed, running up to him and trying to engage him in some kind of dance battle.

Soon enough, some of the bar patrons had risen from their stools and tables to dance with them. Even Dustin, who’d been nervously pacing behind the bar, did a little jig of his own before running back to serve his customers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jake could see Rich rushing around the inn, pulling people to their feet and tugging them to the centre floor. He bowed dramatically to two young women, making them giggle, before pulling them up to dance with him. Jake tried to ignore the bitter taste in the back of his throat when Rich kissed one of their hands before rushing off to find more patrons.

After a while of jumping, bopping and a few clumsy attempts at dipping (most of them by Rich), the music slowed down and the piano began to play a slower song. The people dancing began to pair up, swaying gently to the music. Jake smiled gently, tapping Jenna on the shoulder.

“Kinda tired from the dancing.” He said quietly, so as not to disturb the dancers. “I’m gonna head back to the table.”

“Cool.” Jenna shrugged. “I’m gonna get a drink. Meet you back there?”

“Chill, my dude.” Jake grinned before strolling back to their table in the corner. His brow furrowed when he noticed Rich had beaten him there, kicking his legs back and forth in his chair and idly sipping at a glass of suspiciously red liquid.

“Is that wine?” Jake frowned. Rich looked up at him, almost surprised that Jake was actually talking to him.

“Uh, no, it’s, uh… It’s cranberry juice.” He mumbled. “I don’t really like alcohol, but I wanted to look like an adult, so…”

“Okay…” Jake drawled, sitting down next to him. He noticed Rich’s eyes flick to the side for a second before staring back at his sad glass of cranberry juice.

Jake frowned, trying to see what Rich was looking at. The dance floor was still a little crowded with all the people, but he could still make out Chloe standing near one of the walls, idly chatting with another girl who was making some pretty obvious heart eyes at her. He could see the couples gently swaying and twirling each other to the music, and Michael, doing the macarena very, very slowly.

He glanced back at Rich, gazing out almost longingly at the dancers on the floor.

 _Ah_.

“Why don’t you go dance?” Jake asked. Rich jolted, eyes snapping back to the table quickly.

“Uh, what? No.” He said quickly. “I, uh, I couldn’t do that, no.”

“Why not?” Jake frowned. “You’ve been on the floor all night. Just go ask someone to dance.”

“I _can’t_.”

“What, can’t ask someone?”

“ _No_ , I-!” Rich bit his lip and ran a hand through his red streaked hair. “… I don’t know _how_.”

“That’s bullshit.” Jake huffed, rolling his eyes. “You’ve been dancing nonstop all night, just-“

“No, Jake!” Rich huffed, slumping his head on the table. “I – I don’t know how to dance with _other people_. Not – not like that.”

Jake rose an eyebrow. “How come?”

“I dunno.” Rich shrugged, staring at the floor. “No one ever asked.”

For some reason, that was something that Jake just couldn’t understand.

He bit the inside of his cheek, glancing from Rich to the centre floor, and back to Rich again. He sighed, standing up and holding out his hand.

“Get up.”

Rich frowned. “Uh – what?”

“You wanna fucking dance?!” Jake growled in frustration.

“Well, I mean, yeah, but-“

“Then fucking dance with me, asshole!”

Rich jumped, quickly slipping his hand into Jake’s own. Jake felt his face warm (with annoyance, _obviously)_ and pulled him to a darker corner of the floor.

“Okay, here, just…” He muttered, putting Rich’s hand on his shoulder and holding the other in his own. “There. And now I’ll just…” He wrapped his arm around Rich’s waist, making him giggle.

“Sorry!” Rich laughed. “Ticklish, sorry.”

“… Okay,” Jake went on, hoping Rich didn’t notice his slight voice crack. “And then we just step like this, back and forth…”

He moved them gently, stepping forward and back to the music. Rich kept his eyes fixed on his shoes, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Jake sighed, moving the hand on Rich’s waist to his chin.

“Keep your eyes on your partner, Rich.” He said quietly, tilting Rich’s head up to look at him and immediately regretting it. Rich’s eyes were wide and curious, endless galaxies of brown and gold. Jake swallowed, moving his hand back and trying to focus on the stepping.

“This is nice.” Rich murmured, looking over Jake’s shoulder instead of into his eyes, which Jake appreciated. “Calming.”

“Mhm.” Jake hummed, trying to focus on their movements and not the feel of Rich’s hips swaying under his palm. He kept his gaze over the top of Rich’s head, trying desperately not to look at his stupid face and dumb pretty eyes and wait, _fuck_ , was that Fire Nation guard looking at them?

Jake shook his head quickly, trying to keep his mind on the music. He was supposed to be cutting loose tonight. He didn’t need to be paranoid about stupid Fire Nation guards.

Except, wait.

Oh, _shit_.

“Don’t look now.” He said under his breath. “But I think that Fire Nation guy’s coming towards us.”

“What?!” Rich squeaked, turning his head.

“Don’t look!” Jake hissed, pulling Rich close to him so the Fire guard wouldn’t see his face. “Yeah, he’s definitely coming to us.”

“Oh, fuck, oh, _shit!”_ Rich whispered in panic. “Do you think he recognised me?”

“It’s likely.” Fuck, the guy was really close now. “Quick, twirl!”

“What?” Was all Rich was able to say before Jake lifted his arm and spun Rich towards the centre  floor. He held Rich close to his chest, his face hidden in Jake’s neck, so that the Fire Nationers wouldn’t see him. A good plan, but now Rich’s hips were pressed right against his, and his breath was fanning against Jake’s neck and _okay_ , he really needs to focus on the main issue here.

“We’ve gotta find a way out of this place.” Jake murmured into Rich’s ear. “Do you think we can signal the others?”

“Not without the Fire guards noticing.” Rich said shakily. His whole body was trembling. “Jake, what do we do?”

“I – I don’t know…” Jake mumbled, feeling panic spread from his stomach to his chest. He scanned the floor quickly. There were three doors, so three escape routes. The main door was manned by the Fire Nation guards, so they’d never be able to get out through there without being spotted. There was one door that led to the bathrooms, which they could get to pretty easily, but the guard would still be able to follow them, and Jake doubted they’d be able to sneak out through a tiny bathroom window.

That just lead the door to the bedrooms. Now that could work. Dustin had already reserved them a room. If they could get to the room before the Fire guard caught up to them and lock the door behind them, they’d probably be able to climb down through a window and run off. He could get Rich somewhere safe and come back to get the others. That could work.

“Okay.” He said, voice low. “We’re gonna dance our way to that door over there, okay? No sudden moves. Hopefully we’ll be able to sneak in there without them seeing us.”

“And if they do?” Rich said quietly, voice small and scared.

“Then we run to our room and sneak out the window. Got it?”

Rich gulped, jerking his head in a quick nod against Jake’s neck.

“Okay. Just step with me, okay? Act natural.”

Slowly, they managed to step to the door, blending in with the crowd of dancers. Jake could see the Fire guard wandering through the crowd, peering at each of the couples, looking for something. Someone.

“C’mon, quickly.” Jake whispered, shoving Rich to the door. He should’ve just hurried along behind him, ran to their room and not looked back – but he did. He didn’t know why, but he felt himself look back to the centre floor, and his eyes met the guards.

Shit.

He saw the guard open his mouth to say something, but by then he was already bursting through the door.

“Hurry, hurry, go!” He hissed, pulling Rich through the hall. They rounded a corner, and Jake heard the clang of armour on wood.

“Here!” Rich exclaimed. “Look, room thirteen, that’s ours, right?”

Jake grinned in relief, grabbing the door knob.

The door didn’t open.

He jiggled the handle, pulling it back and forth.

“Fuck.” He whispered.

Dustin had reserved them a room. But he’d given the key to _Chloe_.

The metal footsteps were getting closer.

“Jake.” Rich said quietly, like if he spoke any louder, he’d break. “What do we do?”

Jake swallowed.

“Okay.” He mumbled. “This is happening.”

“What? Jake, I-“

That’s all Rich got out before Jake pinned him to the door and crashed their lips together.

“Excuse me!” An authoritative voice called out. “I’d like to ask you some…”

The voice trailed off. Jake growled, pulling away, but keeping his body pressed over Rich’s to hide his face.

“Do you mind?! We’re busy!” He snarled, pressing his mouth back to Rich’s.

“Uh…” The guard mumbled awkwardly. “Uh, yes, I’ll just – I’m sorry…”

Jake held the kiss a little longer after the guard left, before pulling away abruptly.

“Okay!” He yelped, voice cracking slightly. “Okay. You, uh – you wait here, I’ll go and get the others – Chloe has the key – a-and then we can all sneak out and get away from here before this place is swarming with Fire Nationers. Okay?”

Rich nodded mutely, staring at him with… _something_ in his eyes.

“Okay.” Jake repeated. He bit his lip, glanced from the ground to Rich and back again, and then promptly left, walking as quickly as he could without actually running away.

“Jake?” Chloe frowned as Jake made his way back to the centre floor. “Where did you go? Wait.” She looked around, eyes narrowing. “Where’s Rich? What did you do to him?!”

“Shh!” Jake hissed, glancing around quickly. “He’s outside the room, he’s safe, but not for long. Look, the Fire guards recognised Rich. We got away from them but I think they’re gonna keep looking. We need to leave, Chloe, _now!_ ”

“Shit.” Chloe growled. “Okay, get Jenna and Michael. I have our room key, I’ll take Rich inside and you guys can meet us in there. Knock exactly seven times so we know it’s you. Okay?”

Jake would’ve made a snide joke about her paranoia, but right now, he was actually on the same page as her.

“Okay.”

“Wait.” Chloe said quickly. “Fire Nation guards are ruthless. They won’t stop until their job is done. How did you get away from them?”

“Uh!” Jake flushed. “It, uh, it doesn’t matter. I’ll get Jen and Mike, meet you back at the room, bye!”

Chloe rose an eyebrow, but shrugged and made her way to the rooms. She clearly hadn’t believed him, but that was fine. Because it really didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that Jake asked Rich to dance. He was just tired of seeing Rich’s longing gazes! And it didn’t matter that Jake had kissed him, either. He’d done it to get away from the enemy and hey, it worked!

And it didn’t matter that Rich’s lips were chapped and rough, but so warm and gentle against his own. And it didn’t matter that Rich tasted like spice and lightning and cranberry juice, sharp on his tongue. And it definitely didn’t matter that Rich's movements were slow and shy at first, like he wasn't really sure what he was doing, but after he relaxed into the kiss, he braced his hands on Jake’s shoulders and leaned up on his toes to get a better angle, his hips pressed gently against Jake’s, every touch sending a jolt down Jake’s spine and setting his nerves on fire.

It didn’t. Because it didn’t mean anything. And it never would.

It didn't matter.


End file.
